Hard Drugs Vs. Soft Drugs

byGreen NinjaonDecember 29, 2009

Drugs are used for both medical treatment and for recreation, due to their euphoric and other mind-altering effects. Well known hard drugs include heroin, cocaine, morphine, alcohol, barbiturates, amphetamines, and nicotine, while soft drugs include caffeine, marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and even LSD.

Soft drugs are less inhibiting and addicting than hard drugs, often being defined as causing psychological, but not physical addiction. Hard drugs are often defined as being both physically and psychologically addictive, while also posing serious risks to users. These drugs can easily be overdosed and can also cause significant harm to a user’s health, sometimes even leading to death.

Many criticize the deciphering between hard and soft drugs, arguing that defining a drug as soft takes away from highlighting dangers of drug use. Others argue that since some hard drugs are legal in the U.S., such as alcohol and nicotine, while others are prescribed legally by doctors, users fail to question the effects of those drugs. Take an in-depth look into the effects of several hard and soft drugs and compare their traits to those of LSD.

Soft Drugs

LSD

Street names: acid, Bart Simpson, microdots, boomers, and yellow sunshineUsage method: often packaged in small bottles or applied to blotter paper, sugar cubes, gelatin squares, or tabletsRecreational uses: produces delusions and visual hallucinations that distort the user’s sense of time and identityHow it works: binds to serotonin receptors in the brain, causing changes in the sensory pathways of the brainEffects: hallucinations, distortion of time and space, pleasant feelings and thoughts or paranoia, panic, and agitation, subtle changes in body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse, sweating, chills, headache, nauseaPossible long-tem effects: random flashbacks, may develop long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depressionPhysically addictive: no

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